Production of small-sized printed products

ABSTRACT

Small-sized, folded, glued coupons for insertion into a food package are made on a continuous line starting with a roll of paper and finishing with a straight, aligned, moving row of finished coupons, disposed in shingled relation to facilitate arranging in a row in a tray for immediate packing in a container for shipment to a user, without manual handling prior to arranging in the tray. The line includes equipment for (1) receiving individual coupons from a rotary cutter in a straight-line alignment in a downstream direction, (2) maintaining that alignment and (3) delivering the coupons in that alignment to a conveyor in such a manner as to facilitate arrangement in the desired shingled relation. Cleanliness is maximized and pilferage is minimized.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/328,329,filed Mar. 24, 1989 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the production of printedproducts and more particularly to the production of small-sized, printedproducts which require folding, gluing and stacking, such as small-sizedcoupons intended for inclusion in food packages, for example.

Printed products are conventionally produced on a continuous line whichstarts with a roll of paper at an upstream end and dispenses individualpieces of printed product at a downstream end. Mechanical steps, such asslitting the roll into ribbons, folding a ribbon, applying glue to aribbon, and transversely cutting a ribbon into individual pieces areconventionally performed on the continuous line.

It is oftentimes desirable to deliver the individual pieces of printedproduct, at the downstream end of a continuous line, as a row of piecesin straight, aligned, shingled relation. This facilitates handling andpackaging of the pieces of printed product for delivery to a user.Printed products having a relatively large dimension in a downstreamdirection (i.e., from leading edge to trailing edge of the printedproduct), e.g., about 51/4 in. (13.3 cm) or more, can be manufacturedand delivered in this manner with conventional equipment.

Such conventional equipment includes a rotary cutter which receives acontinuous ribbon containing a multiplicity of connected printedproducts, usually folded and glued. The rotary cutter cuts the ribbontransversely into a series of individual pieces of printed product.Located immediately downstream of the rotary cutter are a series ofdriven rollers which receive each individual piece of the printedproduct from the rotary cutter and deliver it to a conveyor locatedimmediately downstream of the driven rollers. Located above the drivenrollers are a plurality of idler wheels which are urged downwardly toengage the top surface of the printed product as it is moved downstreamby the driven rollers.

The conveyor located downstream of the driven rollers is operated at aslower speed than the driven rollers so that, as the individual piecesof printed product are delivered from the driven rollers onto theconveyor, they are automatically arranged in shingled relation, in arow. In order for printed products to be effectively arranged inshingled relation on the conveyor, the printed products must not undergodeflection between the time they leave the rotary cutter and the timethey arrive at the conveyor. Deflection occurs when the leading ordownstream edge of a printed product moves above or below a planedefined by the tops of the driven rollers, or when the printed productis angled to one side of a straight line extending in a downstreamdirection along the rollers.

With relatively large-sized printed products, such as those describedthree paragraphs above, deflection is not a problem when employing theconventional equipment described in the preceding two paragraphs.However, with relatively small-sized printed products, such as couponswhich are to be included within a food package, that equipment cannotdeliver the individual pieces of small-sized, printed product to theconveyor consistently without deflection. A typical example of such asmall-sized printed product is one having dimensions of about 2-3/16 in.(5.6 cm) from leading edge to trailing edge and about 2 in. (5.1 cm)transverse thereto. The user or customer inserts these individualcoupons into food packages such as cereal boxes or snack packages.

There have been two conventional procedures for handling the small-sizedprinted products described in the preceding paragraph. One procedure hasbeen to dispense the individual pieces of folded, glued, printed productfrom the rotary cutter directly into a large-sized container, withoutany attempt at orderly arrangement. This is known as so-called "fluff"packaging, but this procedure cannot be employed when the user requiresthat the product be delivered in an orderly arrangement.

Another procedure is laborious and involves a very substantial amount ofmanual handling. In this other procedure, folding, gluing and transversecutting operations are not performed on the continuous line. Instead,large sheets, each containing a multitude of connected pieces (e.g., 32pieces) of unfolded, unglued, printed product are produced on thecontinuous line. These large sheets are then transferred to a firstprocessing apparatus which cuts each large sheet into a large number ofsmaller parts, e.g., 16 parts, each containing 2 pieces of printedproduct connected together. Each of these parts is then transferred to asecond processing apparatus which applies a spot of glue to each of the2 pieces on a part, folds each part (e.g., 2 folds to fold the part intothirds), and then cuts each part into 2 individual pieces. Theindividual pieces, which have been glued, folded and cut when theyemerge from the second apparatus, also emerge arranged in an orderlyfashion to permit packaging in rows in a container for shipment to auser.

Before each of the two transferring steps described in the precedingparagraph, the incompletely processed printed products are manuallyloaded on pallets. At each of the two processing apparatuses, theincompletely processed printed products are manually removed from thepallets and manually introduced into the respective apparatus forprocessing.

When coupons are to be included in food packages, it is desirable, froma sanitary standpoint, to minimize the amount of manual handling towhich these coupons are subjected during the manufacturing process. Theabove-described batch procedure for producing an orderly arrangement ofsuch coupons employs a relatively large number of manually handlingsteps, and that is undesirable.

Coupons have a monetary value. Unless strict security is maintained,theft can be a problem. When a number of individual processingoperations are employed at separate processing stations, as in the batchprocedure described above, a backlog of partially processed coupons canaccumulate at each of the individual stations, awaiting processing; andthis exacerbates the theft problems. Typically, there are stacks ofuncompleted coupons, in various stages of processing, sitting on palletsat each of the processing stations.

Another drawback to the conventional, multi-operation, batch proceduredescribed above is the relatively limited production rate availabletherewith, e.g., 500,000-600,000 pieces in a 24-hour period.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An apparatus in accordance with the present invention producessmall-sized, printed coupons which have been printed, folded, glued, cutand arranged in a row in shingled relation, in a continuousuninterrupted operation starting with a roll of paper, and theindividual pieces are untouched by human hands.

The apparatus employs a continuous belt defining a continuous,uninterrupted bridge between the rotary cutter and the conveyor locateddownstream of the rotary cutter. The bridge has an upstream end adjacentthe rotary cutter and a downstream end adjacent the conveyor. Theupstream end is positioned sufficiently close to the rotary cutter toreceive a small-sized coupon discharged from the rotary cutter, beforethe coupon has an opportunity to deflect upwards or downwards orsideways from the straight-line alignment in which it is initiallydischarged from the rotary cutter.

The continuous belt is driven to carry the coupons in a downstreamdirection toward the conveyor. Positioned above the belt is a firstcoupon-engaging structure which cooperates with the belt to maintain thespeed of movement of the small-sized coupon, in a downstream direction,the same as the speed of the belt. The coupon is engaged from above bythis structure immediately upon being received by the belt, to preventthe downstream or leading edge of the coupon from deflecting upward.

Located downstream of the first coupon-engaging structure is a secondcoupon-engaging structure, also positioned above the belt, formaintaining the coupon in straight-line alignment as the couponundergoes transference from the belt to the conveyor. In addition, thesecond coupon-engaging structure cooperates with the belt to restrainthe small-sized coupon from shooting off the downstream end of thebridge toward the conveyor.

The coupon is maintained in the desired straight-line alignment from theupstream end of the bridge to the downstream end thereof. The coupondoes not undergo deflection either vertically or sideways at any timefrom the time it leaves the rotary cutter until the time it is receivedon the conveyor.

Coupons received on the conveyor, after having been processed by theequipment described above, are arranged in straight, aligned, shingledrelation and are conveyed further downstream by the conveyor in thatarrangement. As a row of shingled coupons proceeds down the conveyor, agroup thereof can be readily picked off by a worker and arranged in arow on a tray packed in a container for shipment to a user. The workerwears gloves, a hat and other clean-room gear. This is the only handlingto which the coupons are subjected before they are received by the user.Only one set of hands touches the product during the entirety of theoperation beginning with the roll of paper. Cleanliness is maintained.

Because the operation is continuous, without interruption, from the rollof paper to the shingled row of finished coupons, and because theshingled coupons are packaged immediately, there are no coupons leftsitting around in various intermediate stages of processing. Therefore,theft problems are minimized.

The rate of production is increased by more than an order of magnitude,compared to conventional practice in which the coupons were cut, foldedand glued in batch operations following printing.

In one embodiment, the apparatus may be readily converted back and forthbetween two capabilities, one for producing small-sized coupons for foodpackages, and another for producing larger-sized printed products,thereby providing an apparatus with increased versatility.

Other features and advantages are inherent in the structure claimed anddisclosed or will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed description in conjunction with the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus constructed in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partly in section, ofthe apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of a coupon which is received and delivered by theapparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1, indicated at 10 is a continuous,longitudinal ribbon of connected pieces of a printed product such as acoupon for inserting in a food package. Ribbon 10 is moving in adownstream direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1. Typically, theribbon has been folded into thirds, and a spot of glue has been appliedbetween a pair of adjacent folded panels, at spaced locations along theribbon, to prevent the pieces from unfolding after they have beenseparated. The ribbon is transversely cut by a rotary cutter 12cooperating with an anvil 13 to separate ribbon 10 into a multiplicityof individual pieces of printed product, indicated at 11,11. Forconvenience purpose, the pieces of printed product will hereinafter bereferred to as coupons 11.

The individual coupons 11 are discharged from rotary cutter 12/anvil 13in a straight-line alignment in the downstream direction and arereceived by a piece of equipment, indicated generally at 14, formaintaining the coupons in that straight-line alignment and fordelivering the coupons in that alignment, undeflected, to a shinglingconveyor indicated generally at 16 and comprising a continuous belt 17extending around a plurality of roller 18,19, at least one of which isdriven. Conveyor 16 moves in a downstream direction at a slower speedthan do coupons 11 as they are delivered by equipment 14 onto conveyor16, and the net result is that coupons 11 become shingled on conveyor 16which delivers the coupons in a straight, aligned row, in shingledrelation, in a downstream direction.

Referring to FIG. 6, each coupon 11 is composed of three folded panels20,21,22, two of which (20 and 21) are connected together by a spot ofglue 23 to prevent the coupon from unfolding by itself. Each coupon 11has a leading edge 24 and a trailing edge 25 when the coupon moves inthe downstream direction indicated in FIG. 1.

Delivery equipment 14 is shown in detail in FIGS. 2-5. Equipment 14includes a frame comprising a pair of side plates 28,29 (FIGS. 3-4)between which extend a series of four rotatable rollers 30-33 havingrespective axes of rotation aligned in a horizontal plane. Alsosupported between side plates 28,29, and located below rollers 30-33 arean idler roller 34 and a tensioning roller 35 for a continuous belt 36entrained around all of rollers 30-35.

Belt 36 extends longitudinally around all of roller 30-35, overlies thetop of each of rollers 30-33 and overlies each space between any twoadjacent rollers in the group of rollers 30-33. Belt 36 is driven, in aclockwise sense as viewed in FIG. 3, by roller 33 which, in turn, isdriven by a conventional driving mechanism (not shown). Belt 36 definesa continuous, uninterrupted bridge 37 between rotary cutter 12/anvil 13and shingling conveyor 16. Bridge 37 has an upstream end 38 adjacentrotary cutter 12/anvil 13 and a downstream end 39 adjacent shinglingconveyor 16. Bridge 37 has dimensions in a downstream direction and in adirection transverse to the downstream direction greater than thedimensions of coupon 11 in the same two directions.

Coupons 11 are initially discharged or shot out from the nip 15 betweenrotary cutter 12 and anvil 13 with the coupon disposed in astraight-line alignment in a downstream direction, undeflected eitherupwardly, downwardly or sideways. Upstream end 38 of bridge 37 ispositioned sufficiently close to rotary cutter 12/anvil 13 to receive adischarged coupon 11 before the coupon has an opportunity to deflectfrom the aforementioned straight-line alignment in either an upward ordownward or sideways direction. As belt 36 rotates in a clockwise senseas viewed in FIG. 3, coupon 11 is carried by the belt in a downstreamdirection toward shingling conveyor 16. Located above continuous belt 36is structure, now to be described, which cooperates with belt 36 toperform a number of important function with respect to the alignment anddelivery of coupon 11.

Extending between side plates 28,29 is a shaft 42 which supports all ofthe structure located above belt 36. Mounted on shaft 42 are a pair offrame members 43,44 between which extends a top plate 45.

Members 43,44 and plate 45 define a frame from which extends, in anupstream direction, a composite member 46 carrying a pair of axles 47,48spaced apart in a downstream direction. Rotatably mounted on upstreamaxle 47 are a pair of wheels 49,49, and rotatably mounted on downstreamaxle 48 are a pair of wheels 50,50. Each upstream wheel 49 has a pair ofcircumferential grooves 51,51, and each downstream wheel 50 has a pairof circumferential grooves 52,52. Each of the grooves 51 in an upstreamwheel 49 is aligned with a corresponding groove 52 in a downstream wheel50.

There are two pairs of aligned wheels 49,50. Each pair carries astretched O-ring 53 composed of elastic material and extending aroundboth paired wheels 49,50. Portions of the O-ring are received in each ofthe grooves 51,52 of paired wheels 49,50. O-ring 53 engages the topsurface of a coupon 11 as the coupon is carried in a downstreamdirection by belt 36. The spacing in a downstream direction between (a)the axis of axle 47 and (b) the axis of axle 48 is greater than thedimension in a downstream direction of coupon 11. Accordingly, that partof O-ring 53 which is in a position to engage the top surface of coupon11 has a dimension, in a downstream direction, greater than thedimension of coupon 11 in that direction. As a result, O-ring 53 canengage the top surface of coupon 11 simultaneously along the entirety ofthe coupon's dimension in a downstream direction (FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 4, the top surface of coupon 11 is engaged by a pair ofO-rings 53,53. Each of these two O-rings is carried by a different pairof wheels 49,50. The two coupon-engaging O-rings 53,53 are spaced apart,along the axis of rotation of the wheels, in a direction transverse tothe direction of downstream movement of coupon 11. The net result isthat each such O-ring 53 engages the top surface of coupon 11 at arespective one of two locations spaced apart on the coupon in adirection transverse to the downstream direction. In addition, each ofthe two engagement locations is alongside a respective opposite sideedge of the coupon. The engagement between an O-ring 53 and the topsurface of coupon 11 is essentially engagement by line contact, asdistinguished from area contact which is the type of engagement betweenthe lower surface of coupon 11 and belt 36.

As shown in FIG. 4, belt 36 engages the bottom surface of coupon 11along a contact area which underlies each of the lines of force exertedagainst the top surface of the coupon by O-rings 53, 53 and which alsounderlies the opposed side edges of the coupon. The distance between theouter limits of contact against the coupon's bottom surface, in theaforementioned transverse direction, is greater than the distancebetween the spaced apart lines of force exerted against the coupon's topsurface by O-rings 53, 53.

As shown in FIG. 4, each coupon 11 is engaged by one O-ring 53 carriedby each pair of wheels 49,50. There is an additional O-ring 53 carriedby each pair of wheels 49,50 and located to the outside of an O-ring 53which engages the top surface of coupon 11. The outer pair of 0 rings53,53 would be useful for engaging a coupon which has larger dimensions,in a direction transverse to the downstream direction, than does coupon11 illustrated in FIG. 4.

The two O-rings 53,53 which engage coupon 11 from above cooperate withbelt 36 to maintain the speed of movement of coupon 11, in a downstreamdirection, the same as the speed of belt 36.

Referring to FIG. 3, each of the two coupon-engaging O-rings engages thedownstream edge 24 of a coupon 11 immediately upon receipt of coupon 11on belt 36, and, in this manner, the O-rings prevent the coupon'sdownstream edge 24 from deflecting upward, which would be undesirable.Coupon 11 is sandwiched between belt 36 and O-rings 53,53, as the couponmoves in a downstream direction from the upstream end 38 of bridge 37.This sandwiching engagement maintains coupon 11 in the straight-linealignment, in a downstream direction, in which the coupon is dischargedfrom rotary cutter 12/anvil 13 and in which the coupon is initiallyreceived on belt 36.

O-rings 53,53 are urged downwardly by the weight of the structure 44-50which carries the O-rings, and that weight should normally b sufficientto provide the desired amount of downward pressure for the O-rings toexert upon the coupon. The movement in a downstream direction of drivenbelt 36 is transmitted through sandwiched coupon 11 to O-rings 53,53 todrive the O-rings in a counter-clockwise sense as viewed in FIG. 3. Thisis effectuated by the line contact between the O-rings and the coupon.Line contact concentrates the downward force exerted by the weight ofthe structure which carries the O-rings, thereby increasing the pressureat the contact locations between O-rings 53,53 and coupon 11, comparedto the pressure which would exist if the contact were area contact (aswith a belt) rather than line contact.

O-rings 53,53 engage the top surface of coupon 11 continuously betweenupstream end 38 of bridge 37 and an intermediate position 40 between thebridge's upstream end 38 and its downstream end 39 (FIG. 3). Additionalstructure is provided for engaging the top surface of coupon 11 as itmoves downstream between intermediate position 40 and the bridge'sdownstream end 39, and this structure will now be described, withreference to FIGS. 2-3 and 5.

Extending in a downstream direction from the frame defined by elements43-45 is a member 55 from which depends a clevis 56 which carries anaxle 57 on which is rotatably mounted a delivery control wheel 58 whichengages the top surface of coupon 11 as the coupon leaves belt 36 atdownstream bridge end 39 for transfer to shingling conveyor 16. Wheel 58is aligned in a downstream direction with the two pairs of groovedwheels 49,50. As shown in FIG. 5, wheel 58 has a dimension in an axialdirection thereof greater than the transverse dimension of coupon 11. Asa result, wheel 58 engages the top surface of coupon 11 across thetotality of the coupon's dimension in a direction transverse to thedownstream direction.

Wheel 58 is located at downstream bridge end 39, above belt 36, andengages coupon 11 from above as the coupon passes over the downstreambridge end. Wheel 58 has a size and location such that wheel 58 and belt36 cooperate to engage therebetween at least the upstream end portion ofcoupon 11 until the coupon's downstream edge 24 rests on conveyor 16.Wheel 58 maintains the coupon in the straight-line alignment in whichthe coupon was received at upstream end 38 of bridge 37 and in which thecoupon was maintained by O-rings 53,53 and belt 36. This straight-linealignment is maintained as the coupon undergoes transference from belt36 to conveyor 16. In addition, wheel 58 and belt 36 cooperate torestrain coupon 11 from shooting off belt 36 at downstream bridge end 39toward conveyor 16. Shooting off of a coupon 11 is undesirable becauseit is difficult to arrange a shot-off coupon in the desired shingledrelation on conveyor 16.

There is a portion of bridge 37, between intermediate bridge position 40and downstream bridge end 39, where coupon 11 is not engaged from aboveby either O-rings 53,53 or wheel 58, as the coupon is carried downstreamby belt 36. However, there will be no deflection of coupon 11 along thatportion of the bridge because coupon 11 passes intermediate bridgeposition 40 with a momentum sufficient to maintain the straight-linealignment in which the coupon was maintained upstream of bridge position40. In addition, the speed with which coupon 11 moves betweendisengagement with O-rings 53,53 at intermediate bridge position 40 andengagement with roller 58 at downstream bridge end 39 is so fast thatthe time in which a coupon is totally disengaged between O-rings 53,53and wheel 58, is insufficient for any deflection to occur.

As noted above, belt 36 extends around a tensioning roller 35. Thetension on belt 36 can be adjusted employing expedients now to bedescribed, with reference to FIGS. 3-4.

Tensioning roller 35 is rotatably mounted on an axle 60 having a pair ofopposite ends at each of which is formed a transverse threaded opening62 for threadedly engaging a respective threaded member 61 extendingvertically upwardly from a channel member 63 in turn supported by a bar66 extending between side plates 28,29. A nut 64 (FIG. 3) cooperateswith a head 65 on threaded member 61 to hold the threaded member againstrotation, when the nut has been tightened. The tension in belt 36 can beincreased or decreased by rotating threaded member 62 in one sense oranother, after loosening nut 64.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 3, a coupon received and delivered byequipment 14 does not undergo deflection either vertically or sidewaysat any time from the time it leaves rotary cutter 12/anvil 13 until thetime the coupon is received on shingling conveyor 16. Coupons receivedon conveyor 16, after having been processed by equipment 14 are arrangedin straight, aligned, shingled relation and are conveyed furtherdownstream by conveyor 16 in that arrangement. Located downstream ofconveyor 16 is an additional conveyor 68 (FIG. 1), operated at a speedslower than conveyor 16, and located slightly below conveyor 16, toincrease the compactness of the shingling arrangement. If desired, moreconveyors, each running at a slower speed and each located slightlybelow the conveyor upstream thereof, may be provided.

As a row of shingled coupons 11 proceeds along the most downstreamconveyor, a group thereof can be readily picked off the conveyor by aworker and arranged in a row on a tray packed in a container forshipment to a user. This is the only handling to which the coupons aresubjected before they are received by the user. Cleanliness ismaximized, and theft problems are minimized because no coupons are leftlying around between various stages of processing.

Apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention canproduce, in a 24-hour period, on a single line, 15 million pieces ofprinted product. This is in comparison to a production rate of500,000-600,000 pieces of the same size in the same time periodemploying the batch procedure described above under the heading"Background Of The Invention".

In a typical manufacturing operation employing the apparatus of thepresent invention to produce a coupon 11 of the type illustrated in FIG.6, the coupon can have the following dimensions upon discharge fromrotary cutter 12/anvil 13: 2-3/16 in. (5.6 cm) in a downstream dimension(i.e., between the coupon's leading edge 24 and its trailing edge 25),and 2 in. (5.1 cm) transverse to the downstream dimension. For a couponof that size, the distance from nip 15 of rotary cutter 12/anvil 13 toupstream end 38 of bridge 37 can be about 37/8 in. (9.8 cm); the lengthof engagement, in a downstream direction, between an O-ring 53 andcoupon 11 (i.e., the distance from upstream bridge end 38 tointermediate position 40 on bridge 37) can be about 23/8 in. (6 cm); thedistance on bridge 37 between intermediate position 40 and downstreambridge end 39 (where coupon 11 is engaged by delivery control wheel 58)can be about 51/8 in. (13 cm); and the vertical drop from downstreambridge end 39 to the flat part 67 on shingling conveyor 16 can be about7/8 in. (2.2 cm). A similar vertical drop can be provided betweenshingling conveyor 16 and additional conveyor 68.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the delivery equipmentillustrated at 14 in FIGS. 1-5 can be converted to handle larger printedproducts. In such a conversion, belt 36 is removed, and all of rollers30-33 are driven with a conventional driving train connected to the samedriving mechanism as drives roller 33 in the embodiment for handlingsmall-sized coupons 11. In addition, grooved wheels 49,50 and O-rings53,53 are removed and replaced by ungrooved idler wheels, and wide,downstream delivery control wheel 58 is removed and replaced by anarrower wheel. In this arrangement, the axis of each idler wheel wouldbe located directly above the axis of a respective roller 30-31, and theaxis of the downstream wheel would be located directly above the axis ofroller 33. In addition, the spacing between any two adjacent rollers inthe group 30-33 would have to be substantially less than the dimension,in a downstream direction, of the printed product to be handled by theconverted equipment. Moreover, in the converted arrangement, the entireassembly supported between side plates 28,29 would be moved about 1/2in. (1.27 cm) further downstream from rotary cutter 12/anvil 13 than wasequipment 14.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:
 1. A method for manufacturing small-sized, printed papercoupons for food packages, wherein each coupon has an upstream edge, adownstream edge and opposite side edges, said method comprising thesteps of:separating a continuous ribbon of said coupons into individualpieces; discharging each individual piece initially in a straight-linealignment facing in a downstream direction toward a conveyor separatedby a space from the location of said separating step; carrying each ofsaid coupons in a downstream direction across said space toward saidconveyor; during said carrying step, exerting, against the top surfaceof said moving coupon, a downward force concentrated along a pair oflines, each extending longitudinally in said downstream direction, saidpair of lines being spaced apart in a direction transverse to saiddownstream direction; and, during said carrying step, engaging thebottom surface of said moving coupon along a contact area underlyingeach of said lines of force exerted against the top surface of saidcoupon and also underlying each of said opposite side edges of thecoupon, with the distance between the outer limits of contact againstthe bottom surface, in said transverse direction, being greater than thedistance between said spaced apart pair of lines.
 2. A method as recitedin claim 1 wherein:each of said lines of force is located adjacent arespective opposite side edge of said coupon.
 3. A method as recited inclaim 1 wherein:said downward force is exerted against the top surfaceof said coupon simultaneously along the entirety of its dimension,between the coupon's upstream edge and its downstream edge, at both ofsaid transversely spaced lines.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1 andcomprising:engaging the bottom surface of said coupon immediatelyfollowing said discharging step and before said coupon has anopportunity to deflect from said straight-line alignment; and engagingthe top surface of said coupon at its downstream edge immediatelyfollowing said discharging step to prevent the downstream edge fromdeflecting upward.
 5. A method as recited in claim 1 andcomprising:transferring said moving coupons to said conveyor;maintaining said coupon in said straight-line alignment during saidtransferring step; and restraining said coupon from being shot towardsaid conveyor.
 6. A method as recited in claim 5 and comprising:engagingthe top surface of said coupon, across the totality of its dimension insaid transverse direction, during said transferring step.
 7. A method asrecited in claim 5 and comprising:engaging both the top surface and thebottom surface on at least a part of said coupon during saidtransferring step, until the downstream edge of said coupon rests onsaid conveyor.
 8. In an apparatus for manufacturing printed papercoupons, wherein said apparatus comprises a rotary cutter for separatinga continuous ribbon of said coupons into individual pieces, each havingan upstream edge and a downstream edge and opposite side edges, and fordischarging each individual piece initially in a straight-line alignmentin a downstream direction, and a conveyor located downstream of saidrotary cutter, the improvement which permits the use of said apparatusin the manufacture of small-sized coupons for food packages, saidimprovement comprising:continuous belt means defining a continuous,uninterrupted bridge located between said rotary cutter and saidconveyor; said bridge having an upstream end facing toward said rotarycutter and a downstream end facing toward said conveyor; said upstreamend comprising means for receiving a small-sized coupon coming from therotary cutter; means for driving said belt means to carry said coupon ina downstream direction toward said conveyor; and a first coupon-engagingmeans, located above said belt means, and cooperating with said beltmeans to maintain the speed of movement of said small-sized coupon, in adownstream direction, the same as the speed of the belt means; saidfirst coupon-engaging means comprising means for exerting, against thetop surface of said coupon, a downward force concentrated along a pairof lines, each extending longitudinally in said downstream direction,said pair of lines being spaced apart in a direction transverse to saiddownstream direction; said belt means comprising means for engaging thebottom surface of said coupon along a contact area underlying each ofsaid lines of force exerted against the top surface of said coupon andalso underlying each of said opposite side edges of the coupon, thedistance between the outer limits of contact against the bottom surface,in said transverse direction, being greater than the distance betweensaid spaced apart pair of lines.
 9. In an apparatus as recited in claim8 wherein said small-sized coupon has a pair of opposite side edgesextending in the downstream direction of said apparatus when the couponis in said straight-line alignment and wherein:each of said two lines isalongside a respective opposite side edge of said coupon.
 10. In anapparatus as recited in claim 8 wherein said means for exerting adownward force comprises:means for engaging the top surface of a couponsimultaneously along the entirety of its dimension between its upstreamedge and its downstream edge, at both of said transversely spaced lines.11. In an apparatus as recited in claim 8 wherein said means forexerting a downward force comprises:a pair of means each for engagingsaid coupon along a respective one of said transversely spaced lines;each of said pair of engaging means comprising means for engaging thetop surface of a coupon simultaneously along the entirety of itsdimension between its upstream edge and its downstream edge.
 12. In anapparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein each of said pair of engagingmeans comprises:a pair of rotatable wheels spaced apart in a downstreamdirection; a circumferential groove on each of said wheels; and astretched O-ring composed of elastic material extending around both ofsaid wheels and having portions thereof received in each of said wheelgrooves.
 13. In an apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein:said pair ofwheels is spaced apart a distance exceeding the dimension of saidsmall-sized coupon in a downstream direction.
 14. In an apparatus asrecited in claim 12 wherein each stretched O-ring comprises part of saidmeans for exerting a downward force concentrated along a line.
 15. In anapparatus as recited in claim 8 wherein:said belt means comprises meansfor moving said coupon from the upstream end of the bridge to thedownstream end thereof; and said means for exerting a downward forcecomprises means for engaging the top surface of said coupon continuouslybetween the upstream and downstream ends of the bridge.
 16. In anapparatus as recited in claim 8 wherein:said apparatus comprises aseries of spaced-apart, rotating rollers located between said rotarycutter and said conveyor; said belt means extends longitudinally aroundsaid rollers, overlies the top of each of said rollers and overlies eachspace between said rollers; and said driving means for the belt meanscomprises one of said rollers.
 17. In an apparatus as recited in claim 8wherein:the bridge defined by said belt means has dimensions in (a) adownstream direction and (b) in a direction transverse to saiddownstream direction greater than the dimensions of said small-sizedcoupon in the same directions;
 18. In an apparatus as recited in claim 8wherein:said upstream end of the bridge is positioned sufficiently closeto said rotary cutter to receive a small-sized coupon discharged fromthe rotary cutter, before said coupon has an opportunity to deflect fromsaid straight-line alignment; and said first coupon engaging meanscomprises means for engaging the downstream edge of said couponimmediately upon receipt of the coupon on said belt means to preventsaid downstream edge from deflecting upward.
 19. In an apparatus asrecited in claim 8 wherein:said belt means comprises means fortransferring said coupon to said conveyor; said apparatus comprising asecond coupon-engaging means, located above said belt means downstreamof said first coupon-engaging means, and for maintaining said coupon insaid straight-line alignment as the coupon undergoes transference fromthe belt means to the conveyor; said second coupon-engaging means andsaid belt means comprising means cooperating to restrain saidsmall-sized coupon from shooting off said downstream end toward theconveyor; said conveyor comprising means for conveying a series of saidsmall-sized coupons downstream, in straight, aligned, shingled relation,when said small-sized coupons are transferred onto the conveyor in saidstraight-line alignment.
 20. In an apparatus as recited in claim 19wherein:said second coupon-engaging means comprises means for engagingthe top surface of said coupon across the totality of its dimension in adirection transverse to said downstream direction.
 21. In an apparatusas recited in claim 20 wherein:said second coupon-engaging meanscomprises rotatable wheel means having a dimension in an axial directiongreater than the transverse dimension of said small-sized coupon.
 22. Inan apparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein:said second coupon-engagingmeans and said belt means cooperate to engage at least a part of saidsmall-sized coupon therebetween, at the downstream end of the bridge,until the downstream edge of the coupon rests on the conveyor.
 23. In anapparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein:said belt means comprises meansfor moving said coupon from the upstream end of the bridge to thedownstream end thereof; said means for exerting a downward forcecomprises means for engaging the top surface of said coupon continuouslybetween the upstream end of said bridge and an intermediate positionbetween the upstream and downstream ends of the bridge; and said secondcoupon-engaging means comprises means for engaging the top surface ofsaid coupon as it moves downstream between said intermediate positionand the downstream end of the bridge.